Ford Freestar Transmission Problems

Comments

my ford freestar 06 has 54000 miles. was pulling out of a parking lot onto a busy street. my van just died right in the middle of the street. I managed to pull to the center lane out of traffic. my two young grandsons were with me. some men helped push me across very busy street to parking lot. I broke down I was so scared and worried. the transmission had to be replaced.it cost 2800. ford has to be held accountable. I had no warning of any kind.

Well, I have been watching these posts for last few years thinking I would try to do something to prevent any problems. Keep tranny fluid fresh, tuneup, seal and cover the PCM to prevent water infiltration. Didnt work...On my way from Ontario to US and while in the US my 2005 freestar had the loss of power. What I can add to all the posts is that the cruise has a relationship here in some fashion. My cruise was on and acted funny before the failure. Also, I HAD the torque converter replaced few months ago - did I curse myself? Note - when I had my torque converter replaced instantly I had my cruise back and I dont know if that is a coincidence or not. I have complained to NHTSA and Ford USA and Canada looking for some customer service. Any other suggestions?

Real mess.... but as far as for class suits....they did those when I first got on Edmunds, 3 yrs later I received my check from Ford dealer here in Ohio. I was reimbursed for my tranny. Still like skips @ times. Engine lights been on for a year now. Brakes seem constantly repaired. What I thought should've been done was, IF you had tranny repaired, then you should've been reimbursed, AND since they have a NEW part for tranny, they should've redone tranny again!!!! I will NEVER own a FORD EVER again!!!!!!! :mad:

i'v posted on this site about my 06 freestar transmission. thank you to I shocked 1 to emailing me. I also will never buy another ford. I will not give up being reimbursed. I will post on this site as to progress. judysmith43

The same thing happened to me this morning on the way to work in the rain in my 2006 Ford Freestar (116,000 miles). The car lost power suddenly and would not go forward in any of the drive gears, and no reverse. I managed to pull over to the side of a narrow dirt road...a messy, scary inconvenience!

The check engine light was on this morning but that has happened before and when the dealer checked he couldn't pull any codes. After reading that some have had issues even after a repair it leaves me wondering if a fix is worth it!

I have a question in 2010 my 2004 ford freestar was doing the same thing as everyone is mentioning here. we took it to have it looked at and paid lots of money to have things fixed that wasnt even the problem, finally they replaced the transmission, which took care of the problem for awhile. Now it is happening again. Can i still take it in and have the torque converter replaces as per the recall and will ford reimburse me for the transmission i already paid for. does anyone know?

beware when you take your auto in for this recall because my van was running perfect when i took it in to get the recall and after they put the new torque converter in the van never ran right again. then one day it stopped moving and i had to take it back to the shop. and ford said it was the tranmission pump this time. well when they pulled out the tranmission they should have given me the option to replace the pump it cost me 1700.00 to learn this. im sure this has happened to lots of recalls. they refuse to take any responsibly of the money i had to spend . if i ever get another recall on a auto again i will be sure and read up on it to see what all the reviews are about. no more fords for me.

First time on site. Looks like good info here. My Freestar van just started to hesitate shifting (?) around 45-50mph. Has approx. 140K. Check engine light on for some time now, even before experiencing any problems. Is there an active transmission recall? I bought it used a few years ago, so I don't know prior history. Also, just starting to experience starting problems. Radio re-setting and not starting first time etc. I believe it needs a new starter. Anyone know a ballpark price to have starter repaired? I'm disabled , so I have to have mechanic install any parts. Thanks, Pop

My wife was in our 2005 Freestar (104k miles on it)last weekend and transmission failed in another state on Interstate 84. The garage just called us. To get a rebuilt tranny with work will be $3,400. No sense getting Ford to do new torque thingy now as that will be included in job. Honestly, up to this point it was a good van and now I'm very disappointed to find Ford will not fix an obvious problem.

My Nissan Frontier (also 2005) just blew tranny too BUT it was due to a recalled heat exchange between radiator and transmission. Guess what? They replaced EVERYTHING for free: Radiator, transmission, and new heat exchange.

Next truck might very well be a Nissan. Next family car definitely won't be a Ford.

I know it's not enough, but Ford will reinburse you for, I believe, it's either 1400.00 or 1500.00. Better than nothing back at all. I had the same thing happen to us in our van. We got the thing fixed and got rid of it. :lemon:

Agree with the other post--you should turn it in for claim which will (should) cover the $1400 TC. $3400 is quite high for a rebuild. I took it to our local Ford dealer who did the entire job (plus $200 for the ridiculous diagnosis fee) for $2600. Getting in on record may eventually pan out--as someday they might be forced to pay the entire transmission portion. If you get it done at Ford dealer they should file paperwork for you.

I used to own a 2005 ford Freestar. I had the transmission replaced in April 2011. I ended up dumping the vehicle in November 2011. I was trying to get money I spent for the transmission back to no avail. I have gotten a bunch of answers from the dealership and Fords customer care line as to why I am not entitled. Thuse include:

1) the new owner had the transmission replaced, so anything we had done before is not eligible

2) It is too late to submit a claim under the 11S25 recall

3) The work was not done at a ford deslership so I am not elligible for a refund.

4) I no longer own the vehicle so I am not ellibible for a refund.

The customer care center said the dealership is the sole arbitrator in the case, they cannot do anything. I dealership is run by a bunch of idiots. The dealership is the one who told me its too late and the recall has ended.

Is there anyone else I can escalate this to? I havent received any encouragement yet...

Does anyone know if a formal class action lawsuit against Ford been filed? Like you I had no results from Ford customer service. Even when I told them I was a longtime loyal Ford customer, with 4 Fords in the driveway right now (2 older sons), they gave me nothing. Last summer I had the torque converter recall done before a 2500 mile trip. Just short of our destination, the powertrain warning light came on. I needed to replace the trans valve body at a cost of $2500 while in South Carolina. The Ford dealer there told me that Ford should have ordered the recall for the entire trans. The powertrain warning light came on again while returning home. Ford had to replace the torque converter again. Ford would not refund the $2500 I spent on the valve body repair. We still have the van, but I don't trust it taking my family on the same trip again this summer as it makes a warbling sound and vibrates a bit, which I think is the trans. I am sure there are countless other Freestar trans victims out there unaware of this forum. Hope word can get to them so they too can voice their concern to Ford. Ford really is missing an opportunity to keep loyal customers like myself. They should send all the Freestar owners vouchers for $6000. to be used for a new Ford vehicle. No experation date and to be used on top of all other offers they have going. Needless to say, I a extremely disappointed in Ford management for failing miserably on how they have handled this thus far. My next family vehicle purcahse as of right now, will be a Toyota.

I was told my transmission was bad and paid a private repair shop $1800 to rebuild it. Better price then others have paid. 13 month later, one month past the warranty, it quit again. It sat in the drive way for a year because I was not going to put any more money into an unsafe van! Ford finally did the recall and it got repaired. I submitted the paper work for what I paid the first time and was told by the dealer "yes I would be reimbursed". But Ford Said NO.I also believe some of the transmission repair shops know or knew about the torque converter problem and were charging people to "rebuild the transmission" when all they were doing was replacing the torque converter with the same weak Ford replacement parts.

last August a court found that a class action could not be made against Ford for these issues - each individual owner would need to file in small claims case as each person has a different warranty (or something like that).

Anyhow, I can't give the details as I am under a signed confidentiality agreement with Ford but I would urge all to file a small claims suit in their local district court for the difference of the full cost to repair (minus the $1450 if you were reimbursed for your torque converter.)

take it to small claims court - seriously - I can't provide details as I am under a signed confidentiality agreement with Ford but I would urge all to file in their local district court for a small claims case.

I can say that we had our tranny replaced in 2010 and now as of right now the van is doing the same thing again, when we had the tranny replaced the first time we drove it home from the shop and it was still doing the cutting out and running rough. we took it back and they then figured out it was the pcm getting wet they dried it out and put on a new seal which lasted for a couple of yrs but now back to the same problem again.

Patti1214, I've ben putting my paperwork together to sue in small claims court. Can you give any suggestions on what I can do or bring to help me win? I'm not sure what your confidetiality will allow you to do but if you can point me to any additional info (helpful link/article) that would be great. I understand if you can't. Best of luck with your Ford nightmare... def will never buy Ford again!

My 2004 Freestar lost ability to accelerate and I found out about the recall. I took it to the nearest service center. They had the car for 3 days before I heard from them. They said they performed the recall work but it still doesn't "go." Seriously, that is the detailed, educated, professional diagnosis I got from them. I had it towed to a transmission shop and the mechanic told me they found pieces of the torque converter (Ford's crappy part) in side the transmission pan. The pieces were broken-up all through my transmission. My guy told me it appeared that the Ford service center performed the repairs with the transmission assembled, never removing the fluids or transmission pan. When I told Ford how their shotty work damaged my transmission they admitted to doing the work that way. Ford's "fix" is to pull out their defective piece and put in a new one... they take no care not to damage your transmission in the process... from the sounds of things because they intend to sell you a new one when all the shards of metal from their defect part damages the rest of your transmission. My advise, if you don't need the repair yet then get rid of the thing before you do because the repair will do more damage than good.

I'm taking Ford to small claims because they accept no responsibilty for the transmission damage even though it's the broken pieces of their torque converter that ripped it apart. I reached out to the service center and Ford in regards to compensation for the $2900 repair. My transmission mechanic offered to speak with them directly on his findings. They won't listen, review or reply to any of my concerns. Really unbelieveable and sad that to me that they don't back their product or their customers. Such a horrible representation of an American business. I'll never buy or recommend Ford.

Just had my transmission fail on my 2006 Freestar. It was working great the day before and all of a sudden it sounded like metal gears were popping all over the place. I took it to a transmission repair place and they said that the gears were all binded up and would need to replace with a used tranny. I have been reading all of your posts. Where does one turn it in for a claim?

When you get your receipt for the repair, make sure they list the torque converter as a separate item. This is what the rebate will cover, if your lucky. You must take it to a Ford dealer for processing.

Just the other day my 2006 Ford Freestar Transmission died had less then 70,000 miles on it. No warning, stopped at a red light went to accelerate and nothing. Just finished paying it off so needless to say i am pissed!! After reading all the reviews i just cant believe there is no recall. I called Ford and they took my complaint but that's about it. Since there is no recall on it said they cant do nothing about it. Called Ford Care center and they want $3,177 for a rebuild. My mechanic gave me an estimate of $1,500. To top it off Ford care center wanted to rip me off. Good luck to everyone and please post any updates if and when Ford decides to do the right thing... :mad:

If you have the trans rebuilt, make sure he does the torque converter too since this is what's causing the problem. On you receipt, make sure the converter is listed and priced as a separate item. This is what's needed to get any kind of rebate. Ford dealers offer of a rebuilt trans for 3100.00 is a rip off. I got new complete trans installed with a 3 year part and labor warranty for around 3200. This was not a Ford dealer.

Have an 06 Freestar that would shudder occasionally when it was shifting (usually on the down shift), and other times would hear a whining/whistle type of sound- very intermittent. Does this sound similar to what others have experienced? I live overseas, so I took it to a garage (maybe Apr-May 12) I heard a good rep with foreign (not Korea) cars. They thought transmission and said it was bearings that needed replaced; let them do the work. Seemed fine until the end of the '12 and started getting that whine again, but very infrequently. Heard it again today - my wife and kids use the van, usually not me - and started looking into the history of Freestar trans problems.

I to have the same problem. called 1-866-436-7332 to Ford.They say they are getting calls about this.But, nothing is being done at this time.Have anyone with this problem call the number and speak out.